


Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

by afteriwake



Series: A Little Holmes [11]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-23
Updated: 2012-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-16 21:33:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Presents arrive for the Holmes family as Abigail learns a new word, one that surprises everyone, especially Molly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

**Author's Note:**

> I have a very long multi-chapter fic for this series finished and waiting for posting in February, so I’m writing all the fics that take place in the nine months between “Rainy Day Surprises” and that one. This is set a few weeks after “Rainy Day Surprises.”

“One new word,” John said excitedly as Sherlock entered the room. Mrs. Hudson and Molly had been unavailable to babysit and it was pouring down rain, so John had offered to stay home and watch Abigail while Sherlock went to the crime scene to look it over.

“Really?” Sherlock asked, going over to Abigail and picking her up. “That makes how many words so far?”

“Four,” John said. “Dada, Nana for your mother, hi and now Jaw Jaw for John.”

“So she knows your name now? That’s a good sign,” Sherlock said with a smile towards his daughter. “I am very impressed, Abigail. Good job.”

“You got another package from her mother today,” John said. Sherlock carried Abigail over to the desk and balanced her while he picked up the package. “Bit heavier than most of them.”

“Postmarked from Sydney,” he murmured. “I have to put you down now, Abigail.” He then set Abigail on the floor and watched as she walked over to where John was sitting. John picked her up and set her in his lap as he opened the package. It was a jewelry box, one of the old fashioned kind that had glass doors. He could see some jewelry inside; at the very least, a ring a bracelet and a necklace, all of which looked to be expensive. “Jewelry box and jewelry,” he said, opening the letter that had been placed on top.

“Must be for when she’s older,” John mused.

“Most likely.” He scanned the letter and took out the money she had included with it. He had started to deposit the money in the trust fund Mycroft had for her, even though his brother insisted it wasn’t necessary and would be better spent giving the little girl nicer things. His most common retort to that was that their mother and Mrs. Hudson spoiled the young girl enough, and at least her mother’s gifts could be put to good use at a later date. He was starting to turn his brother to his point of view. His eyes caught on the last line of the letter and he set it down opening the drawer underneath the doors. Inside was a watch, though it was a man’s watch. “She sent something for me this time as well.”

“Really?” John asked turning to look at him. “What was it?”

“A watch. She said she saw it and thought I could use it, seeing as how I no longer seem to be wearing one.” He sighed and shook his head. “Whatever spies she has in place are giving her thorough reports.”

“What are you going to do with it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Wear it, I suppose. I do need one.”

“Isn’t Molly going to ask where you got it from?”

“Most likely.”

“And what are you going to tell her?”

“The truth: my daughter’s mother is spying on me and thought I could use a watch.”

John’s mouth quirked up slightly. “You know, if you tell it to Molly just like that she may not actually get jealous.”

“Should I not wear it?” he asked, looking at his friend.

“Well, your birthday is coming up. Did you ever think Molly might have gotten you a watch?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

“I hope she didn’t, because when she asked for my advice for a gift that’s what I told her to get you, seeing as how it’s practical and you need one.”

“Oh.” He fingered the watch again, then went over to John. “Here,” he said, handing John the watch.

John’s eyes bulged slightly. “Do you know how much a watch like this costs?”

“I can guess it’s fairly expensive.”

“That’s an understatement.” He looked at Sherlock. “Are you sure you want me to have it?”

“To be honest, I’d much rather wear a watch from Molly than that one. There will be more meaning behind it.”

“Sherlock Holmes, believing in sentiment,” John said with a grin as he took off his old watch and put the new one on. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He picked Abigail up again. “Speaking of my birthday, I hope you haven’t made plans that involve me that day. Molly has said she’s taking the day off work and kidnapping me. I have the feeling Abigail will need a babysitter that day.”

“She already asked me, I already said yes,” John said with a grin. “Mary is going to come over and keep us company that evening. Your precious daughter doesn’t seem to like the way I feed her, but she’ll eat anything Mary offers.”

“She’s just stubborn,” Sherlock said with a slight smile. “Perhaps Mary can show you how she does it.”

“Perhaps,” John said with a nod. “I honestly think you’ll like your surprise from Molly. She put a lot of thought into it. I’ll just give you my gift the day before, or the day after, if you stay out all night.”

“I usually never look forward to my birthday, but I believe this year I am at least a bit.” Abigail reached for his hair and he moved her hands away. “Has she taken a nap already?”

“No, not yet.”

“I’ll put her down now. I have things I need to go over and if she doesn’t go down for a nap she’ll be up half the night.” He turned to his daughter. “Say good-bye to John.”

“Jaw jaw bye” she said with a smile.

“Word number five,” John said with a grin. “And her first sentence to boot.”

“You continue to amaze me, little one,” Sherlock said with a wider grin, kissing her forehead. He took her to their room and laid her down in the crib, standing over her for a few minutes. She stared up at him but slowly her eyes began to close, and when they finally fluttered shut and stayed that way he left the room. He saw John had gone to the jewelry box. “I hope she enjoys it when she’s older.”

“Some of this stuff is worth a small fortune, I’d gather,” he said with a surprised look on his face. “I’m assuming this is a diamond tennis bracelet, and the ring is an emerald.” He held a ring in his hand. “Well, this ring is anyway. I don’t know what the other ring is.” 

Sherlock came next to him and looked. “It’s an opal. That’s Abigail’s birthstone, supposedly.”

“Ah,” John said with a nod. “Flanked by diamonds, no doubt. She must have spent a lot of money on this.”

“Unless she already had it,” he said, picking up the opal ring. “Though I believe this is probably new. Special to her daughter.”

“Probably,” John said with a nod. “What are you going to do with it?”

“Put it somewhere safe until she’s older. I will probably give Abigail the locket first, the one she sent months ago. This jewelry can wait until she’s at least a teenager, except maybe the ring. When her fingers are large enough for the opal ring, I’ll give it to her then.” He put the ring back in the box. “The jewelry box itself I’ll let her have in a few years. Who knows what she’ll consider treasure worth keeping?”

“I can just see this box filled with shiny coins and smooth pebbles and stuff,” John said with a chuckle. “Perhaps you can get a safety deposit box.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Sherlock said with a nod. “I’ll look into it in the morning. For now, I have a case I need to solve.” He turned to John. “Are you free to help?”

John nodded. “Of course.”

“Very well. Let me go over what I observed at the crime scene.” He began to launch into details, and the two men worked for about four hours on the case, trying to make heads or tails of it, and were only interrupted by Abigail’s cries on the monitor which sat on the desk. Sherlock went and got her, finding she was just lonely, and then they worked on it some more. It wasn’t until nearly six that they were interrupted once again, this time by Molly’s arrival. “Hello, Molly,” Sherlock said as he nodded to her.

“Hello, boys,” she said, going over to give Sherlock a quick kiss. “I figured you’d be hip deep in a case so I brought you dinner. I hope you don’t mind Chinese.”

“You have the best girlfriend in the world, because all of a sudden I’ve realized I’m famished,” John said with a grin, getting up and taking the bags Molly was holding from her. “Thanks, Molly.”

“No problem,” she replied. Then she looked at Sherlock. “Any new words today?”

“Jaw Jaw for John and bye,” he said shifting so he could move Abigail closer to Molly. “Plus she said her first sentence.”

“You are such a smart girl!” Molly said with a smile, picking Abigail up. “Now we just need to teach you how to say Molly and I’ll be happy.” She balanced Abigail on her hip. “I was thinking we might have some female bonding time while the two of you eat.”

“You aren’t joining us?” Sherlock asked, slightly confused.

“I ate at work. There was a party and it was catered,” she said. “You two enjoy the food and get back to work on the case while Abigail and I play for a while.” She looked at Abigail as she waved. “Wave good-bye to Dada, Abigail.”

“Bye,” Abigail said as she waved slightly. Then she turned to Molly and reached for her. “Mama.”

Molly froze. “Oh.”

“We haven’t taught her that one,” John said with a slight frown.

“But the other children at the playgroup use it,” Sherlock said, standing up and going to them. “If it makes you uncomfortable we can keep trying to teach her Molly.”

“Perhaps that would be best,” she said with a nod. “I mean, I’m not her…you know.”

“We’ll work on getting her to say your name” Sherlock said quietly. “I promise.”

“All right.” She blinked for a moment, then gave Abigail a wide smile. “Come on. Let’s let the boys be.” And with that she left the room.

“You know really, that’s what Molly is to her,” John mused as he brought plates and silverware to the table. “She’s more a mother to her than Irene will ever be.”

“I know,” Sherlock said with a sigh. “But as serious as our relationship is, marriage is something we haven’t talked about at all, much less thought about. I know Abigail doesn’t know better, but I almost wish she hadn’t said that.”

“Molly isn’t going to get spooked, Sherlock. It would take a lot more than that to drive her away from the two of you.”

“I hope you’re right,” he murmured as he got to the table. “I don’t know if I want to imagine a life different from this, a life that she isn’t a part of.”

John put a hand on his shoulder. “Everything will be fine. We’ll work with Abigail on this.”

“All right,” Sherlock said with a nod.

“Come on, let’s eat. Chinese food isn’t as good when it’s gone cold.” He began opening the bags and pulling out containers, and soon he and Sherlock were serving themselves dinner. They continued to discuss the case as they ate, and an hour later the food was gone and Molly had joined them, saying Abigail was asleep. Sherlock caught her up on the case and she added details from the autopsy she had done that afternoon. It was nearly nine when John began to yawn. “I have an early day tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll see you both later.”

“Good night,” Molly said with a smile.

“Night, John,” Sherlock said.

“Night,” he replied before he left the room.

Molly looked at her watch. “I should be heading home as well. I had to take some rather different shifts than usual to get your birthday off. Tomorrow starts at four AM for me.” She stood up and moved over to him, kissing his cheek softly. “Walk me to my car?”

He nodded and got up. She grasped one of his hands in hers and they made their way to her car. The rain had stopped hours before and the air smelled crisp and clean. “Molly, about earlier…”

“It’s all right,” she said, stopping by her car. “Abigail doesn’t know any better and she hears all the mothers at the playgroup referred to that way. She was bound to pick it up sooner or later.”

“We’ll work on getting her to call you Molly,” he said.

“All right.” She smiled at him, then leaned in and kissed him softly. “Give her a hug and kiss for me when she wakes up, all right?”

“I will,” he said with a nod. “Good night, Molly.”

“Good night, Sherlock.” She let go of his hand and got into her car, starting it up and driving off as he watched.

He made his way back inside and went to his room, pausing for a moment to look at his daughter. “She is rather more of a mother to you than your actual mother, isn’t she?” he said quietly running a knuckle down her cheek. “We’ll just keep working on that.” And with that he stripped down and climbed into bed, waiting for sleep to overtake him. When it did, he found he was thankful for the end of his ceaseless thoughts on the matter.


End file.
